The Impact of Leadership and Targeted Interventions to Close the Achievement Gap of Disadvantaged Pupils: A Case Study

This research explores the impact of effective leadership and targeted interventions in closing the achievement gap of disadvantaged pupils in primary schools. Findings suggest that the case study schools use effective school leaders and a range of targeted interventions including early intervention, small group additional teaching, one-to-one tuition, peer tutoring, parental involvement, booster class, mastery learning, pastoral care, and enrichment programmes. Each of the above success factors and intervention strategies was explored in detail in the paper. The overall conclusions of this study are that the case study schools have closed the achievement gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers through providing effective school leaders and the use of a range of effective intervention strategies. We would suggest that the case study schools’ stories of how they have closed the achievement gap through providing strong school leaders and the use of targeted interventions are of local and national significance. Our research also suggests the possibilities for further research. The recommendations from the study are that there is a need to replicate and expand this research with a larger sample of the study, in order to explore in detail what works in schools

Pupil mobility, attainment and progress in secondary school

This paper is the second of two articles arising from a study of the association between pupil mobility and attainment in national tests and examinations in an inner London borough. The first article (Strand & Demie, 2006) examined the association of pupil mobility with attainment and progress during primary school. It concluded that pupil mobility had little impact on performance in national tests at age 11, once pupils’ prior attainment at age 7 and other pupil background factors such as age, sex, special educational needs, stage of fluency in English and socio-economic disadvantage were taken into account. The present article reports the results for secondary schools (age 11-16). The results indicate that pupil mobility continues to have a significant negative association with performance in public examinations at age 16, even after including statistical controls for prior attainment at age 11 and other pupil background factors. Possible reasons for the contrasting results across school phases are explored. The implications for policy and further research are discussed

The contribution of general language ability, reading comprehension and working memory to mathematics achievement among children with English as additional language (EAL): an exploratory study

An increasing number of high-stakes mathematics standardised tests around the world place an emphasis on using mathematical word problems to assess students’ mathematical understanding. Not only do these assessments require children to think mathematically, but making sense of these tests’ mathematical word problems also brings children’s language ability, reading comprehension and working memory into play. The nature of these test items places a great deal of cognitive demand on all mathematics learners, but particularly on children completing the assessments in a second language that is still developing. This paper reports findings from an exploratory study on the contribution of language to mathematics achievement among 35 children with English as an Additional Language (EAL) and 31 children with English as their first language (FLE). The findings confirm the prominent role of general language ability in the development and assessment of mathematical ability. This variable explained more variance than working memory in word-based mathematics scores for all learners. Significant differences were found between the performance of FLE learners and EAL learners on solving mathematical word-based problems, but not on wordless problems. We conclude that EAL learners need to receive more targeted language support, including help with specific language knowledge needed to understand and solve mathematical word problems

An empirical study of technological change in the Ethiopian highland farming systems

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Disproportionality in the attainment of pupils with special educational needs at the end of primary school in England

This research article aims to examine disproportionality in the attainment of pupils with special educational needs at the end of primary education. The sample consisted of 3,025 pupils who completed Key Stage 2 in one LA in London. Two methodological approaches were used in the data collection. The background data related to special educational needs were collected as part of the January school census and this was then matched at the pupil level to their Key Stage 2 results collected by the Department for Education for all state-educated pupils in England at end of the summer term. The data were then analyzed further using descriptive statistics. The findings of the analysis of Key Stage 2 results show that pupils with special educational needs in England are much less likely to meet the expected standard, raising key concerns for policymakers and teachers. A number of factors were identified, including pupils' type of need, gender, socio-economic status, ethnic background and exclusions rate. The data show that some ethnic minorities are more likely to be identified with some types of special educational need compared to White British pupils. Policy implications for tackling disproportionality in special educational needs and further research are discussed in the concluding section

Tackling teachers’ low expectations of Black Caribbean students in English schools

The underachievement of Black Caribbean heritage students has been a persistent problem facing national policymakers in English schools for many years. Drawing on case study evidence, this article has looked into the experience and views of teachers, parents, governors, and school staff about the effect of teachers’ low expectations on Black Caribbean students and the reasons for their underachievement in English schools. Evidence suggests teacher low expectation is one of the factors that hindered the achievement of Black Caribbean students. Low expectations manifest in several ways, including harsher reprimands, racist stereotyping, unconscious and conscious bias, as well as being overlooked to answer questions, and is set in low ability groups. The recommendations from this study are that schools should challenge teachers through training and the effective use of an inclusive curriculum that provides students with knowledge about the histories, cultures, and contributions of diverse groups

Tackling educational inequality: Lessons from London schools

This research paper explores the lessons from London schools in driving school improvement and addressing inequalities. Drawing upon evidence from trend attainment data by ethnic background, a literature review of academic research, the London Challenge, Ofsted and London Local Authorities publications, and case studies of schools, the paper will identify areas of good practice that contribute to raising achievement in London schools. The overall findings showed that attainment at GCSE (General Certificate for Secondary Education) has risen much faster in London than nationally since the London Challenge school improvement programme was launched to improve outcome. There are several reasons why London schools are bucking the national trend. The paper identified many success factors and strategies which contributed to the raising achievement and tackling inequalities such as effective school leadership, quality of teaching and learning, use of data, use of multi-ethnic workforce that reflect the community, and effective support for ethnic minorities and EAL pupils and targeted interventions. The overall conclusion of this study is that improvement in schools in London is an exceptional achievement and offers a worthwhile example of a success story that policymakers at both national and international levels can learn from. Lessons from London schools in tackling inequality and the policy and research implications are discussed critically in the final section

Black Pupils and School exclusions in England: What does research tell us?

The disproportionate exclusion of Black Caribbean pupils from schools has gained the attention of policy makers and parents. But what are the causes of this pattern